Louis keller



(No Model.) L. KELLER.

- GARTRIDGE LOADER AND OAP EXPELLER.

No. 294,680. Patented Mar. 4, 1884.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS KELLER, OF NEIV YORK, N. Y.

GARTRlDGE-LOADER-AND CAP-EXPELLER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No, 294,630, dated March 4, 1884,

Application filed November 19, 1883. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, LOUIS KELLER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of New York city, in the county of New York and State of New York, have invented certain newand useful Improvements in Combined Loaders and Gaphxpellers, of which the following is a specification. I

The. object and nature of my invention consist in constructing the combined loader and cap-expel] er in such manner that the expellingneedle shall be accurately guided into the hole in the end of the shell to expel the spent cap, and also so that the end thereof used for loading--or, in other words, for ramming down the wadsshall accurately fit the interior of the shell and press on all parts of the wad, thus securing its proper relation to the charge of powder or shot and to the shell.

The drawing illustrates my improved loader and eap-expeller in longitudinal vertical section.

a is the shell, usually made of paper, wit-h the usual reen'force, b, at the primed end 5 and d is the primer-cavity. V

f is the needle or point, usually made of metal, which is driven into the end of the loader prop er, which is seen at c. This needle is used to expel the exploded cap or primer from the primer-cavity (Z after the shell has been once used, in order that the shell may be again charged and )rimed for further use. 9 is the knob or han le into which the loader is inserted, either endthereof being inserted into the handle depending upon whether the loading or the cap-expelling operation is to be performed.

Prior to my invention these instruments have been made with the body of the loader (shown at 6) smaller than the interior of the shell in which it was to be used, so that it could pass by the re-enforce at the base of the shell, and the needle thus be enabled to reach and expel the spent cap. Thus the loader, fitting the shell very looselybefore reaching the re-enforce b, was capable of attaining aposition at an angle to the axis of the shell, and when it did attain such position, which quite frequently occurred, then the needle did not enter the small primer-hole through the bore of the she1l,which is usually quite small, not more than about a sixteenth of an inch in diameter, but, on the contrary, impinged on the re-enforce by the side of this hole, and the person using the instrument, feeling the resistance and supposing it was occasioned by the sticking of the cap, applied pressure, which caused the needle to puncture or abrade the re-enforce, and frequently so broke it up that the hole 0 was stopped and the shell injured, if not ruined; and it also frequently happened that the metal of the shell was injured by the needle. More over, since it is necessary that both ends of the loader should snugly fit into the handle, the end used for loading (seen at h) has been made of the same reduced size as the opposite end,

so that, as stated, it might fit into the substantially straight-sided recess in the handle. Thus the end h of the loader, at the part which came in contact with the wad, was considerably smaller than the wad, and thus the wad, while being forced home by the loader, was not sustained-or, in other words, pressed upon at its very edges all around the wad. This bad feature has proved quite a defect in such implements, and the use of these loaders with the improved Star wad, so called, has been found quite unsatisfactory, because said wads require that their edges should be firmly pressed down. By my improved construction I obviate all the above difficulties. The body, of my loader is preferably made perfectly cylindrical throughout from the end h to the shoulder i, and of such size as will accurately fit the bore of the shell it is to be used with. The end h is not tapered off, and at the shoulder i the diameter of the loader is suddenly reduced by as much as the thickness of the re-enforce at b, and thence it extends, as shown in Fig. 3, so small as not to interfere with the re-enforce, and at the extremity thereof the needle f is inserted as usual, and the recess in my handle g, I make bell-mouthed at its outer portion, thus getting the bevel effect in the handle instead of the loader. I also make the recess deeper and the whole handle consequently somewhat larger than in the loaders heretofore made, because it has to receive all that portion of the loader which is beyond the shoulder i and the needle, also. It will thus be seen that I get a perfect guide for the me I00 dle by means of the body of the loader accurately fitting the inside of the shell, and also that the wads are completely covered by the other end of the loader when the loading op- 5 eration is being performed,and the wad is squarely seated down on the charge, and its edges firmlypressed down whatever kind of I wad may be used; I do not limit myself to the cone-shaped extension of the loader beyond the shoulder i, because it is obvious that the projection may be of any desired shape, provided it does not interfere with the re-enforce, and, in fact, it may be cut of square at the shoulder and a very long needle used; but I do not favor this construction, because such a needle would be aptto become bent, and thus not center properly; and, if desired, I make the cavity in the handle to conform to the shape of the projeczo tion beyond the shoulder i, so that the wedging effect of the bell-mouthed end of the said cavity, which might tend to split the handle, may be distributed over alarger surface, and thereby lessened. Y

I claim- As a new article of manufacture, a combined loader and cap-expeller in which the body of the loader is truly cylindrical, and with the expelling-needle at one end thereof, and a handle the recess in which is bell-mouthed, and adapted to receive either end ofthe loader, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

Signed at New York, in the county'of New York and State of New York, this 5th day of November, A. D. 1883.

LOUIS KELLER.

WVitnesses:

JOHN J. OAULDWELL,

- WALTE H. CRITTENDEN. 

